Many of you have seen a fuzzy little fellow named Jasper wandering around the clinic over the last year or so. He is our newest clinic cat who came to live with us in November 2016. He is an 11-year-old chocolate point Himalayan. He has made a great addition to our clinic team.
Here is his story:
Jasper previously belonged to one of our clients. He had been having some behaviour issues for several years and was urinating in various places around their house except for his litter box! This was becoming a big problem. They were no longer able to manage this problem and needed to find him a new place to live.
We helped to find another home for Jasper that had another cat already. He was using his litter box regularly and all was well. We soon discovered that he is a bully to other cats. He was trapping the existing kitty on the kitchen counter, and the poor guy was now starting to urinate outside the litter box. We needed to find yet another option for Jasper, and he came to live at the clinic.
Initially, Jasper was a bit stressed being here and would spend his days hiding under the couch in our staff room. After a bit of coaxing, he started to come around within a week or so. Pretty soon he was comfortable with his surroundings and wandering around like he owns the place!
In November of 2017, Jasper again started to urinate inappropriately, and he had chosen the couch in our staff room as his new litter box. We acted quickly and made sure that he did not have any medical reason for this behaviour. His tests checked out fine, so we discovered that this was a behavioural problem. We all asked ourselves “what has changed?”
We realized that around the time this started Jaspers Feliway diffuser had gotten unplugged. Feliway is a synthetic feline pheromone product that comes in a spray as well as an electric diffuser. It is a handy product for cats that are having behavioural problems. After thoroughly cleaning the couch we promptly started using his diffuser again. He has not had any issues since then. He is a success story for cats that have behavioural related urinary problems!
He can be a bit shy with new people but he loves to hang out by the door in our reception area and be admired from afar. He is quite possibly the fuzziest cat alive, so he gets his hair cut every few months. He is much happier when he does not have to try and clean his ridiculous amounts of fur. His groomer reports that he is a perfect boy for his haircuts.
A freshly groomed Jasper:
Jasper now likes to spend his days on his heated bed on the couch or lying belly-up in the middle of the floor! He also keeps us busy by hiding in cupboards and boxes. This can make life very interesting when we need to find him at the end of the day. His favourite toys are his feather wand and cat nip knots. His ideal person is our receptionist, Leanne. He loves to hang out on her lap and receive cuddles.
Jasper is living a life to be envied here at the clinic. We hope to be able to enjoy his company for many years to come.
Written by Janet Hofos, Office Manager
